The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : Vigilance probe mooted into TDB decisions

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Feb 09, 2007
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Kerala

Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Vigilance probe mooted into TDB decisions

Special Correspondent

Complaints of graft in contracts, appointments

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Ministry for Devaswom is understood to have recommended the Home Department to conduct a Vigilance inquiry into the decisions of the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) to grant `tender excess' for 39 civil works awarded to 17 contractors and a host of appointments made after the Government decided to promulgate the Travancore-Cochin Hindu Religious Institutions (Amendment) Ordinance.

(Tender excess is given to contractors on the premise that they had incurred additional expenses while doing the works awarded to them.) Official sources told The Hindu that the orders passed for bearing the expenses of a case filed against the dissolution of the Board would also be brought within the ambit of the probe. Since the case against the dissolution of the Board amounted to challenging the ordinance issued by the Government, the decision to foot the litigation expenses was improper, sources said.

Complaints

There were complaints about the manner in which the estimates were drawn up for the works and the subsequent sanctioning of excess amounts to select contractors.

Out of the 39 civil works for which additional funds were sanctioned, 12 works were scheduled to begin this year. It had also been pointed out that the decision was made without verifying the nature of the works. The estimates of most of the civil works were allegedly inflated and by granting excess amounts the contractors stood to gain extra benefit. According to rules, the Board should provide a lump sum for meeting unforeseen expenses while awarding such works.

Contractors often cited price hike in construction materials as a reason for seeking `tender excess.' On receiving such requests, without verifying the veracity of the claims, the Board sanctioned more than 50 per cent of the total estimate as `tender excess.' The Board suffered an estimated loss of Rs.10 crore on this score, sources said.

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